Month: July 2026

Music…

Knowing Me, Knowing You

Arrival

ABBA

and Words

No more carefree laughter
Silence ever after

Walking through an empty house
Tears in my eyes
Here is where the story ends
This is goodbye

Knowing me, knowing you (ah-ha)
There is nothing we can do
Knowing me, knowing you (ah-ha)
We just have to face it this time (this time, this time)
We′re through (this time, this time we’re really through)

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

My family left Puerto Rico in 1978; we moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  We spent the two summers after that move in Toronto, Canada, and Hong Kong, respectively.  As my sisters and I learned a new language, we did much of this through music.  As my mom shopped in Chinese mini-grocery stores, my older sister got the occasional record of popular music.  Each vinyl disc contained a collection of songs from a particular year, like 1977.

Though in some ways, the joke was on us.  These were definitely popular songs from that year.  However, the songs were not performed by the original artists; instead, they were covered by Chinese artists and repackaged.  A typical record like this would contain covers by artists such as the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt.  In fact, for many years I didn’t know that the first version of Hotel California wasn’t the original.

Continue reading “The sweet voices of my childhood” →

Music…

Stairway to Heaven

Led Zeppelin IV

Led Zeppelin

and Words

There′s a lady who’s sure all that glitters is gold
And she′s buying a stairway to Heaven

When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for

Ooh, ooh, and she’s buying a stairway to Heaven

There’s a sign on the wall, but she wants to be sure
′Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings

In a tree by the brook, there′s a songbird who sings
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

I arrived in Florida from Puerto Rico in the summer of 1978.  When I first arrived, I spoke mostly Cantonese and Spanish.  I studied English in Catholic school, but I failed that class.  Upon arriving in Florida, I started learning English for real.  In fact, I learned English through listening to music.  I spent many hours listening to the radio on stations such as Y-100.  It was in that way that I discovered bands like Led Zeppelin.

The prototypical Led Zeppelin song that dominated the airwaves is “Stairway to Heaven”.  Naturally, the radio played many of their other songs, but “Stairway to Heaven” was by far their most distinctive.  Yes, I found the song interesting, but many songs were interesting.  The 80s filled my ears full of many distinctive sounds and experiences.  You know how the adage goes, “You’re unique, just like everyone else.”

Continue reading “Epitome of debates in my school library” →